Manchester United & CSKA Mosco wins 2-1

Manchester United FC 2-1 Wolfsburg

Manchester United FC came from behind to defeat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 in an enthralling UEFA Champions League Group B contest at Old Trafford.

No fear
Anglo-German match-ups seldom disappoint and this was no different, with Wolfsburg playing with none of the fear of some first-time visitors to this stadium and taking a lead through Edin Džeko's towering 56th-minute header. As they so often do, however, United hit back, Ryan Giggs's deflected free-kick bringing them swiftly level before Michael Carrick struck a fine winner to take Sir Alex Ferguson's men top of the group.

Positive approach
Some teams shrink on the Old Trafford stage and visiting coach Armin Veh had said beforehand that he did not know if his players would be "inspired or scared". Happily it turned out to be the former as they took the game to United in the opening minutes, their positive approach almost rewarded when Nemanja Vidić's weak defensive header allowed Gratife to lay back to Christian Gentner but he shot straight at Tomasz Kuszczak.

Owen off
United came out mirroring Wolfsburg's 4-4-2 with Michael Owen partnering Wayne Rooney in attack, the former making his first start in the competition since November 2004 and a Real Madrid CF match in Kyiv. The pairing lasted only 20 minutes, however, before Owen made way for Dimitar Berbatov having aggravated a groin strain. To that point Veh's surprise inclusion in the Wolfsburg defence, Ricardo Costa, had enjoyed a relatively comfortable ride on his first start of the campaign in place of Andrea Barzagli. United's sole threat had come from a Rooney free-kick but with Berbatov's introduction that changed.

Chances
The Bulgarian fashioned United's first chance of note after 25 minutes, his cute back-heel sending Luis Valencia clear on the right but the Ecuadorean winger dragged his shot wide. Berbatov then played a defence-splitting pass for Carrick but the midfielder was foiled by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio. United kept probing, with Carrick's diving header testing Benaglio, though it was not just one-way traffic, Gentner sending a header wide from a corner.

Breakthrough
Another Wolfsburg corner brought an early scare for United after the restart, Costa volleying over the crossbar. Anderson then brought a flying save from Benaglio, but the breakthrough in this intriguing contest came at the other end as Makoto Hasebe crossed to the far post for Džeko to power a header past Kuszczak. The visitors held the lead for only three minutes before Giggs replied with a free-kick that found its way into the bottom corner via a deflection off the defensive wall.

Carrick winner
The impressive Giggs soon had the ball in the net again, firing past Benaglio after the ball deflected his way off Carrick only for the effort to be ruled out for offside. United's seemingly ageless captain was undeterred, however, combining with Berbatov to tee up Carrick who curled the winner beyond Benaglio from the edge of the box. In an exciting end-to-end finish Josue shot narrowly wide for Wolfsburg but the points were United's. For the visitors, just an awful lot of pride.


CSKA Moscow 2-1 Besiktas

Alan Dzagoev and Miloš Krasić struck in each half to secure a long-awaited home win for PFC CSKA Moskva and leave Beşiktaş JK adrift at the bottom of UEFA Champions League Group B.

Valuable victory
Both teams tasted defeat on Matchday 1 and CSKA had not enjoyed a UEFA Champions League victory in Moscow since October 2006, yet it was the home side who responded more positively. Dzagoev opened the scoring within seven minutes, before a fine individual effort from Krasić doubled the advantage just past the hour. Although Ekrem Dağ ended the visitors' long scoreless run in added time, it was too little too late for Beşiktaş, who will go into their double-header against VfL Wolfsburg knowing their hopes already hang by a thread.

Positive start
CSKA have no such worries ahead of their home and away fixtures against Manchester United FC, having quickly showed their continued improvement under new coach Juande Ramos. The Muscovites immediately seized the initiative and converted their first chance. When a long ball, combined with Tomáš Necid's delicate back-heel, gave Dzagoev space outside the box, the 19-year-old took the ball in his stride before unleashing a dipping shot that caught Rüştü Reçber off his line and found the top corner.

Momentum builds
The hosts, who had failed to win a home game in their previous UEFA Champions League campaign in 2007/08, refused to sit back and quickly created further opportunities. Rüştü kept out Mark González's header from a Chidi Odiah cross, then grabbed Krasić's weak shot at the far post before a quick break caught CSKA's defence off guard. Filip Hološko charged clear only for CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev to race off his line and block. That proved to be the Turkish team's best opening of the half, CSKA restricting them to long shots that lacked accuracy or crosses that were easily dealt with by Akinfeev.

Late flurry
Visiting coach Mustafa Denizli had to replace injured forward Hološko with Yusuf Şimşek midway through the half although his charges might have been back on level terms before the interval. A rare starter, Odiah lost possession and allowed Beşiktaş captain Mert Nobre to advance and unleash a fizzing 25-metre strike which Akinfeev tipped over. CSKA then nearly doubled their advantage, however, González's free-kick rocketing centimetres wide of the far post with Rüştü beaten.

Momentum turns
Beşiktaş started the second half in more determined mood and were soon pushing CSKA back. After a succession of corners, Turkey's champions finally produced a clear-cut opportunity when Dağ cut into the area and crossed low, but Nihat Kahveci miscued. The Army Men rode out the storm and managed to break through the opposition back line on the counterattack, only for Necid to shoot over with just Rüştü for company.

Krasić strikes
Krasić made no such mistake in the 61st minute, beating İsmail Köybaşı and then Matteo Ferrari with a superb solo run before firing in the second. Dağ did conjure up Beşiktaş's consolation goal two minutes into added time – their first score in six competitive outings – yet it was too little too late for the Istanbul side.